A Note from Michelle

Dear Reader,

Have you ever sat in a business meeting and heard your mother’s voice come flying out of your mouth? This book is about listening to that voice, even if it frightens you! For it’s the wisdom of our mothers and all the female figures in our lives that will guide us to the success we desire and deserve.

Congratulations! You are about to embrace what it means to be a Woman in Charge and to learn how the simple truths of “Mom knows best” can be applied in the workplace!

We, as women, have a collection of tools we bring to the workplace, but they are tools we haven’t really explored in depth. We acquire these tools doing what we have done for centuries. It is no great revelation that women have run the organization that has been the backbone of this country for generations — THE FAMILY! If you study this organization that we call ‘the family’, you will note it has been full of restructuring and downsizing over the years. It has been though a lot of cultural changes, but one of the constants has been the matriarch and her feminine leadership.

We really need to learn to own our talents and our skills as mothers and wives. Our feminine perspective brings our best into the workplace, and it can help us achieve power, prestige and prosperity.

Women are emerging as leaders of corporations, small businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations. As more of the Baby Boomer men meet the age of retirement, the number of women leaders is going to increase dramatically! Gone are the days where women are only coming into organizations at entry level positions. Women are running organizations. They’re senior managers and working with diverse groups of people. Women lead these people, motivate them, and bring out the best in them. They do more, and they do it with less money, better time management, and more finesse. To most women, these highly desirable management skills are second nature because they do these things all the time at home, running the family organization, without even really thinking about it.

Because women are a major component in the workplace, they now hold down two MAJOR CAREERS as they balance their responsibilities as CEO of the family with outside work. It’s not that the men aren’t important, but women have traditionally had to juggle a lot of different roles and work harder than ever in order to get an opportunity in the workplace. To take advantage of those opportunities, we have to draw from our greatest source of success: running our households and families. From that area of our lives, there are many lessons we can learn and take into that workplace.

The feminine perspective differs historically and genetically from a traditional male perspective in business. The male perspective has traditionally been very transactional. However, the female perspective is relational. Women are typically more relationship-oriented, and because success in business is largely due to building relationships and communities, women have a lot to offer! For example, in management roles, you need motivated people to actually get the work done and encourage your team to grow in their skill sets. As mothers, we’ve got tons of experience doing this. We’re constantly nurturing strengths in our children.

The chapters that follow talk about the female perspective on leadership and how it applies in the workplace. Anyone who’s had to convince a child it was bedtime, convince a teenager they shouldn’t go out and drink with buddies, or convince their daughter that their relationship with a friend is toxic knows the negotiation skills you develop and use at home can also be utilized in the workplace.

This book focuses on how I have used in my business all the lessons from all the important women in my life; each chapter has a personal story from the home and a case study of how the “simple truth” of the story can be applied in a work situation. Accompanying these tales are the “Lipstick Leadership” sections, stories and quotes from the hundreds of professional women I have interviewed for my radio show and worked with over the years. Each chapter ends with exercises and tips called “MBA (Mom’s Business Acumen) Class” that include actions you can take at work to apply Mom’s wisdom.

In my role as a woman at work, I’m a unique blend of traditional and modern. I’ve had a very traditional Italian upbringing, and I view myself in a very traditional role in my home. However, I am also the CEO of a management and marketing corporation! I have personally gone from the kitchen to the corner office, and I’ve helped others do the same thing because my company helps to coach, manage and train executives on how to move their careers forward and entrepreneurs on how to build their dream. What I found in working with hundreds of women executives — and from the women I interviewed for this book — was the skills they developed or acquired as mothers or from their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, or girlfriends are the traits that propelled them into the leadership roles they have today.

This book is about being aware of your own skills and of all of the different ways we can nurture them and bring them powerfully into the world of work. Its underlying theme is to help you find the ability to embrace and be comfortable with who we are and what we have to offer. This is simply how our lives feel complete.

There have been wonderful women in my life who have helped to mold and cultivate me into the woman I am today. And personally and professionally I LIKE THE WOMAN I AM TODAY! So thank you, Mom, for all the times you gave me your advice — even if I acted like I did not need it or want it…you stuck with me!

Today we start to embrace the simple truths from Mom that can help drive your career!

The Simple Truth from Mom: She always knows best!

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